Using statistical process charts (SPC)

to visualise a patients journey to understand variation and assist with data quality

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, North West, Mental Health

The problem

The costing team needed to visualise large volumes of data. We wanted to do this better, because otherwise we would not see the wood for the trees! One patient record from the costing system output was 40 pages in length. This proved cumbersome when reviewing patient allocations and when answering queries from colleagues.

The challenge

How might we visualise this data so that we can identify the normal range of costs and any outliers, to catalyse clinical change and improvements in patient services?

The outputs

A series of dashboards that assist in validating our data quality and allow conversations to start with clinicians and other providers of data in the costing process, such as internal departments within the trust, around data quality around pharmacy issues. Also, the data visualisations could inform clinical practices about what is happening currently and help shape future decision making in relation to the patient journey through our services.

The outcomes

Our ultimate aim is always to improve service user experience. Direct benefits of the project identified so far include:

  • providing clinicians with convenient access to costing data they have not previously been able to view
  • improving clinicians’ understanding of, and engagement with, costing data
  • using costing data as part of benchmarking efforts to focus attention on areas where clinical practice is optimal and can be used to inspire improvement in areas of relative under-performance.

The Innovation

Read the full innovation on using statistical process charts (SPC) to visualise a patients journey to understand variation and assist with data quality

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What the peer-reviewers said

“This innovation will engage clinicians in how to review the services delivered.”

“This innovation provides a creative and accessible approach to an overwhelming data set.”

“The team should feel proud of what they have achieved.”

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Downloads

Here are all of the documents and resources related to this innovation

Innovation F3

Using statistical process charts (SPC) to visualise a patients journey to understand variation and assist with data quality

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Supporting evidence F3

Detailed innovation description with screenshots – PDF

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